Diving trip to Raja Ampat

Diving trip to Raja Ampat

The world's second largest island, New Guinea, just north of Australia has always been associated with excitement and adventure. The island is divided into two parts. Papua New Guinea is the eastern part and fully independent since as late as September 16, 1975. As well as the western part which is part of Indonesia, Papua. Papua Barat or Western Papua as it means later became its own province in 2003. Today it is what is talked about as Bird's Head Peninsula and Bomberai Peninsula. The western part of the island was formerly called Irian Jaya. It was a name that was changed to Papua in 2001 when the region gained greater control over its natural resources and increased autonomy. However, the name West Papua and its own province was not determined until as late as 2007. Here in Indonesia, I am now on my way for a diving trip to Raja Ampat.

This part of West Papua is probably best known precisely for the exotic-sounding name "Raja Ampat"!! Raja Ampat or Empat as it should actually be spelled means four kings in Bahasa Indonesia. Empat means four but due to probably lack of language skills it became Ampat with local authorities and most people write like that nowadays.
The area is by far one of the most talked about diving destinations in recent years in the world of diving travel. A dream for many to experience and especially the market for liveaboard has grown enormously here.

Long journey ahead

It's a long journey to get here. I will start by first flying to Jakarta, the administrative capital of Indonesia. I must first enter Indonesia via an international airport and the easiest way to get further inside the country and avoid additional nights or long stops is precisely Jakarta. If you want to enter via, for example, Bali, that is also possible and there are a few more options. To avoid problems and miss the connection between my international flight and to be sure that my luggage will come with me further domestically in Indonesia to my diving trip in Raja Ampat, I have chosen to stay in Jakarta for two nights in a hotel. It's actually quite relaxing to have those extra nights and I get to see something extra along the way.

After a journey of almost a day from when I locked my door, I'm there. In Jakarta, I will stay at one of all the airport hotels available. Once at the airport in Jakarta, I am met by the hotel's shuttle bus. The staff is easy to find and since I've been here before it was even easier. They wear extremely chicken yellow clothing that shines through the crowds gathered outside the terminal. We have to wait a while for our bus, but once on the bus there is a transfer directly to the hotel. It goes fast today, no more than 15 minutes. The traffic in Jakarta is killer during rush hour so I know it can be up to a little over an hour if it's rush hour. When I get to the hotel, I check in and quickly get into the room.

Wonderful pool and spa downstairs

There are now plenty of airport hotels in Jakarta but I stick with the one I've always used. It's fun to see how it has developed and modernized over the years. Today the rooms are super fresh and the service is good. And on the lower level there is wonderful relaxation with a pool, sauna and spa. They even have massages and a training room here. You can borrow swimming trunks and towels so it's easy to go there. Key to a box to put all the clothes etc. and then just relax. I love their sauna but they also have steam and cold baths. After a few hundred meters of swimming in the pool, there will be a beer or yes, a few more, before the sauna takes a few hours.

This is purification for the soul and the body feels pleasantly relaxed after a long journey. After a good night's sleep and a few hours on the roof terrace, where in addition to the opportunity to spy on planes there is also a really good restaurant, I have made it through day two. I finish the day with a repeat from yesterday with pool and massage and then dinner at the hotel.

Fly to West Papua

Late in the evening, I take the hotel bus to the airport and Terminal 1. There I check in and a couple of hours later it takes off via Makassar, which is the provincial capital in southern Sulawesi, against Sorong. Sorong is the provincial capital of West Papua. When we get to Sorong and just about to land, I look out over the airport. Just like previous visits, a group of women wash clothes in a ditch that runs parallel to the runway. Some moped riders have stopped and are waiting for the plane to pass the "intersection" with the small road that crosses the runway.......! A group of children stand wide-eyed waiting for us to "be done" so they can resume their game of soccer on the runway interrupted by our landing plane. An incredible contrast compared to the rigorous security built up at the world's airports. Think that it can actually be so relaxed.

After walking off the plane and arriving at the terminal building, it's already full of activity in here. The luggage is quickly in place and once it is loaded through a hole in the wall, a group of baggage workers stand ready to grab every single bag they hope will be the right one. They have luggage tags on their hands and compare the numbers to be able to take their guests' luggage. It's nice sometimes to be a little taller than the majority of people in these countries and I can look out over the room where I see "my" person who is going to meet me. Just as well to get to know him as he will be taking me to my liveaboard for my diving trip here in Raja Ampat.

Pack the cars and drive to the liveaboard

I glance at the luggage while we chat and note that it would have been easier to take my bag myself. But taking your own luggage is almost out of the question and that is something that is included in the service. The steadily growing number of resorts and liveaboarder here in Raja Ampat has brought lots of job opportunities. At the airport, transfers, hotels, resorts and liveaboards are good for tourism here and in 2018 the West Papua economy grew more than Indonesia on average.

When the workers have collected the luggage of "their" guests, they get a bundle of rupees from "their" diving organizer and then they load the luggage into the right car. Quite nice not to have to think about that part actually, even if the efficiency compared to stressed Europe is something to work with. After a while, everything is ready anyway and the "check-off" is complete and we can go out to our car. I make sure once again that everything is included just to be safe. Diving trip in Raja Ampat without luggage and diving equipment, cameras and other things could easily have been a boring trip.

A couple of hours later, everyone is on board and we ease off to go on a diving trip here in Raja Ampat in Indonesia, which ended up being magically good. We already did our first dive in the morning just a couple of hours after we got on board. We did this dive along a reef with corals that were in extremely good condition. The fish life is not that remarkable on this dive but we still saw schools of sweetlips, napoleon fish, barracudas, turtles, parrot fish and lots of other things. Also invertebrates such as squid, various mantis shrimps, giant sponges and many different flatworms.

Beautiful nature and incomparably fine reefs

During our liveaboard week, we travel through an archipelago full of emerald green overgrown islands and coral reefs that lie haphazardly thrown into a sea that shines in different shades of blue. We experience different species of reef sharks, silver tip sharks, the very strange carpet shark or wobbegong. It is a bottom-dwelling shark that most closely resembles a large monkfish. It looks sluggish and lazy but is super quick to turn and slash if it can to defend itself. We find nudings and various invertebrates such as squid and crustaceans in large quantities during the week. At one of the dive sites, "The passage", we find so many flatworms and nudibranchs that the memory card in the camera ran out. A dive that most people do in a strong current out in a narrow channel, but which at slack water turned out to be a treasure for nudist lovers like me. 

Mike point is a diving site at a small elongated coral island in the middle of the sea. Here it is often current but when we dive it is almost completely still and the corals at the end of the dive are absolutely incomparable. I stopped photographing and after all these years under the surface in different parts of the world I just enjoyed a real coral reef. Without the influence of people, lots of fish and a richness of species that was purely magical. I felt that now I was done, I don't need to see more in my diving career. I've seen the best there is.

Sleeping barracuda

At the "Sleeping barracuda" dive site, we swim during parts of the dive along a white sandy bottom with small coral blocks scattered here and there. Schools of sweetlips and butterflyfish surround us most of the time. Turtles lie a little here and there and rest or eat and then when we get out on the sandy bottom we see hundreds, maybe a thousand barracudas lying and resting on the bottom. They have found a place where they can lie and have the flowing water wash over them. If they are resting, waiting for food or just lazy, I didn't get an answer but a magical experience. Shoals of barracuda, tuna, snappers, fusilier fish. Lots of turtles, jellyfish, strange pipefish and different species of seahorses on one and the same dive is not bad.

In some places it is especially easy to find pygmy seahorses and they are just too cute. During the diving trip in Raja Ampat, I see a total of four different species. We see lots of different species of clownfish, ladyfish playing and hunting for nearby photographers - yes, it even turned blood white. Emperor fish, butterfly fish, pressure fish and surgeon fish, all in a blissful mix of beautiful corals, anemones, gorgonians and hydroids.

It will soon become everyday food, but the nettles here are so numerous that there were floating around very small "no sees" as we called them. Bits of nettles that burn badly when they touch bare skin. Despite these, it was easy to just enjoy and let yourself be amazed. During the week we also stopped to visit some local villages during the trip. It's always a spice to any diving trip, I think, and it was in Raja Ampat that we became very popular.

Diving with manta rays

Manta sandy is one of several places where it is common to see manta rays. We go down and sit nicely spread out on the sandy bottom. At a large cliff at a depth of only 15 meters, it should be almost guaranteed to see manta rays. After a couple of minutes of staring at a couple of gobies, the first manta comes sailing by. This rock serves as a cleaning station and many manta rays come here today. As always with these "ufos" there is a feeling that they come from another world when they sail over us. We probably see about 20 different manta rays during the 90 minute dive. The last 30 minutes we are just two divers in the water and the mantas come really close to me many times. So close that I have to move because 500kg of fish won't move just because I'm there.

After the week on board I am overjoyed and completely captivated by the incredible diversity that exists here. That Raja Ampat is the center of diversity is not an understatement. The corals are in a class not found in many other places in the world. A few more places in Indonesia hold the same class, a couple of places in the Philippines but then... no. It is clearly here in the Coral Triangle that the world's diversity is found. The fish life is in comparison with most things I have experienced. Many places in this part of the world are unfortunately quite fished out so it's a pleasure to experience this. Here during my diving trip in Raja Ampat I have been able to experience how it should be in all places. A well-functioning coral sea without overfishing and too much litter.

More than satisfied with the trip

A liveaboard in Raja Ampat should be on every diver's bucket list. It is well worth the time and money. Even if it takes time to get here and it costs a lot, it really is an experience to have with you for the rest of your life. The diving at this place is really magically good and incredibly rich in marine life. Having identified the largest number of species of fish, diving tourism has grown incredibly rapidly to this very remote part of the world. There are also amazing coral reefs, lovely nature and lots of invertebrates so it's really remarkably good.

If you want to book a trip here, you absolutely should contact Scuba Travel in Gothenburg. They have extensive experience in Indonesia and Raja Ampat. They also have the option of arranging accommodation at resorts if you don't want to be on a boat - that's at least as good! Stopovers and domestic flights are necessary parts and not completely safe and easy to arrange on your own. Good luck with your adventure with your diving trip whether you choose resort or liveaboard in Raja Ampat.